Yearbook
by general zargon
Summary: A simple question from Ashitaba results in a day of reminisicing, laughter, and the girls wondering why Keiichi cut his hair in high school. R&R please!


_Author's Note: I don't like Mimisaka or Motoyoshi, so I'm basically ignoring their existence with this story. Apologies to anyone who actually likes them!_

"A school photo?"

Hades-sensei blinked in surprise at Ashitaba's question, the repeated query out of his mouth before he could really think about it, and the other children looked over at him expectantly.

The school nurse admitted to himself that he was in unfamiliar territory, since no one had ever asked to see a school photo of him before, and Ashitaba asking about one had come out of the blue. Judging by the expressions on Kaburagi's, Hanamaki's, and Senoo's faces, they were also interested in his response. And even Fuji deigned to look up from where he was reading a manga on one of the Infirmary beds, a light of curiosity in his eyes.

Ashitaba flushed, and he rushed to elaborated, "Well, since we don't really know a lot about you Sensei, I was just wondering if you had an old school picture or something that we could look at…its okay if you don't want to show us or anything!" He waved his arms to emphasis that it was definitely _okay_ if Hades didn't want to show them a picture.

The brown-haired boy didn't know why he had asked if Hades-sensei had any school photos that they could look at, and he was afraid that the pale-haired man would be angry that he was asking about his personal life.

A chorus of agreement chimed from the group on the couches, their curiosity now peaked at the prospect of finding out more about their sensei.

Hades' reaction was the complete opposite of what Ashitaba expected as a wide grin spread across his demonic-looking face, and the teens sitting on the couches could practically see rays of sunlight coming from behind the teacher. "Of course! I have a few old yearbooks at my apartment, would you like me to bring them with me tomorrow?" The golden-eyed, pale-skinned man was overjoyed that his favorite students were interested in what he had been like when he was in school, as they appeared to be.

The five kids exchanged looks, and they all could have sworn that they heard angels singing as they all nodded in unison.

* * *

Fuji blinked, looking up from his latest manga when he heard the infirmary door open, soon followed by a large crash. He shrugged when he saw pretty much what he had expected (well, there were two options, but Hanamaki would have squeaked when she'd fallen, so…).

The blond shrugged and went back to his graphic novel. He'd find out what was up when the others got there.

Hades-sensei was sprawled across the floor, several books scattered around him, but the man quickly sat up and re-stacked the yearbooks into proper order. Moving the books to the table where the kids usually ate lunch, he set them neatly near the center, practically glowing with excitement and happiness.

Since he was on the verge of thrumming with energy, the nurse set about cleaning the infirmary and making sure that his supplies were organized and that he didn't need to order more. He normally couldn't wait for break time for the students, since that was when Ashitaba and the rest came to the infirmary to have lunch, but today he was more excited than usual!

He had started searching for the yearbooks as soon as he had gotten home the previous day, as he was certain that he had brought some with him when he had moved into the apartment, and after a half hour digging through his closet he had found them.

…And then he spent several hours looking through them himself, which resulted in him getting a bit less sleep than normal, but he determined that he was in no danger of passing out, and so he deemed the time well spent.

Sure enough, the school bell tolled for the break, and around ten minutes later his favorite students (he guessed that Fuji had been avoiding music class again, since he was there already) came through the infirmary door, Senoo and Yasuda arguing about something to do with one of Senoo's sisters.

Kaburagi and Hanamaki were the first to sit down, Ashitaba having been held up by attempting to stop the ensuing fight between Senoo and Yasuda while Hades-sensei looked on in amusement. Three kicks and a punch later, and Yasuda was on the floor whimpering while the school nurse handed him an ice pack.

Unsurprisingly, Ashitaba was the first one to spot the books on the table, and he reached for the top one as he asked, "Are these your yearbooks, sensei?" He was already flipping through the pages when the Death God of the Infirmary answered in the affirmative, Kaburagi and Senoo grabbing the other two books and paging through them curiously, making amused noises at one comment or another that was written in the book.

Yasuda was still on the floor and apparently wouldn't be recovering for awhile…

The thoughtful boy paused for a moment on a page, blinking at the picture for a moment before he asked Hades, "Sensei, is this you in middle school?" He turned the book around so that the others could see the aforementioned picture, and Fuji wandered over to sit next to Hanamaki to get a look at it, causing the shy girl to flush.

The picture showed a boy around 13 or 14 years-old, with black hair down to his shoulders that just brushed the collar of his school uniform, turned slightly away from the camera looking surprised and embarrassed, with a faint dusting of red across his cheeks.

Hades walked over to the rectangle of couches, carefully setting the tray of tea he had made down on the table, and got a good luck at the picture that had caused such interest. At once the memory of that day came back, and he smiled as he went back over to his desk to relocate his chair, partly so he could sit closer to the group and partly to build up the suspense.

Judging by the sulking looks on Ashitaba's and Kaburagi's faces, they knew that that was what he was doing, too.

Sitting down, the golden-eyed man smiled as he told the kids, "That was my first day of middle school, and I was so nervous! I kept stuttering and tripping over nothing, and it was really embarrassing, especially when I had to stand in front of the class and introduce myself. This picture…I remember it was taken during the lunch period, a member of the photography club was going around taking pictures of all the new students, and he caught me by surprise while I was trying to find someplace to sit down…"

Ashitaba and Fuji chuckled while the girls flushed and giggled behind their hands at the story, though all of them were admiring the picture and they all would have had a hard time believing that the boy in the photo was their sensei if they hadn't known that his hair was supposed to be black.

Well, Ashitaba had actually seen Hades-sensei's hair turn black, and he had relayed that information to the others, but he wasn't sure that they believed him or not.

Fuji hummed in question before he turned the yearbook he was holding around to show another picture, though his question was slightly different, "Hey, isn't this that ossan* that you knew in school?"

This picture showed a dark-skinned boy, around 15 or 16 years-old, wearing a festive kimono and standing in front of a booth at what looked like a carnival or festival. The boy was tall, and appeared to be making an effort to stand up straight, judging by the serious look on his face…and he also had very long, dark hair. His thick mane appeared to end somewhere around his waist, but from the way he was standing it was hard to tell.

Kaburagi and Hanamaki both blushed as they admired the photograph.

Hades chuckled as he replied, "Yes, that is Keiichi, but before he cut his hair, and I was only barely acquainted with him at that time."

The kids glanced at each other before Hanamaki asked curiously, "Why did he cut his hair?"

The Death God of the Infirmary smiled, very much amused at the memory, as he said simply, "Niburu told him that she would never date someone who had longer hair than she did."

Ashitaba and Fuji had giant drops of sweat on the back of their heads at that, and the sad thing was that they could actually see that happening…

Shaking their heads, slight grins on their faces, both the boys and the girls returned to paging through the books, with occasional breaks to take sips of their tea. Aside from random comments and questions such as Hanamaki's shy, "Sensei, you were voted most likely to win the Halloween costume contest in high school?" and Hades-sensei's amused, "Yes, but I swear that I wasn't even wearing a costume that day!" the next ten minutes passed peacefully.

Five minutes after that, and the tea had been finished and the yearbooks almost entirely read through. Hades and the kids were laughing happily as the teacher recalled yet another story behind a picture from his high school yearbook, and Yasuda had recovered enough from his earlier beating to crawl up into another chair and weakly chuckle when a tale became particularly funny.

They all started in surprise when the bell rang, and it was with clear disappointment that the students put the books back on the table and thanked Hades-sensei for bringing them to school. And, with a goodbye and promise to come back before they went home, Ashitaba, Kaburagi, Senoo, Hanamaki, and Yasuda all went to their assigned classes.

Hades and Fuji, who was playing hooky from class (again), were the only ones left in the infirmary, and the teacher began cleaning up the cups and the tray that he had used for serving tea.

Fuji picked up the manga that he had been reading earlier, stretching out on 'his' bed, and idly flipping through the pages until he found where he had stopped reading. Listening to his favorite sensei moving about the infirmary, Fuji couldn't help but think that out of all of them, _Hades-sensei_ had been the one who had enjoyed looking through the yearbooks the most.

Smiling slightly, the blond hid his expression behind his manga as he called out lazily, "Hey sensei, I think you're about out of hand soap and tissues."

The pale-haired man yelped as he rushed to check and see if his assistant was right.

* * *

*What Hades and co. usually call Keiichi in the manga. ^.^

_Author's Note: Yeah, the beginning wasn't that great, but I like to think that the middle part and the end made up for it, LOL. ;) Please read and review! As always, constructive criticism is welcome!_


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